by Mignon Mykel
“Thanks, Chief.”
“That’s great, thanks, ma’am.” I saw Sydney’s lips quirk at the title before she reached in her bag again for a pen.
“What’s your name?” I said as I took the pen from Sydney. I clicked it ready and moved to place the paper against the wall.
“Ben. Shit, my brothers are going to be so freaking jealous…” The kid’s grin was infectious, and I found myself chuckling. He sounded like Porter, making me miss the kid. We may have been eleven years apart, but sometimes he called and asked my opinion on something – sometimes before doing just the opposite, but I felt like the kid was trying to find his place in the family, and ‘baby’ wasn’t the title he wanted.
I scrawled a quick note to Ben and signed it, the signature now coming out by muscle memory. “Well, there you go. Don’t go too hard on your brothers.”
“Awesome! Thank you so much, Prescott. This is great,” Ben said as he was walking away, looking down at the paper.
“He was cute,” Sydney said and I caught her smile.
“Cute?” I lifted my brows, giving her a hard time.
“His excitement was cute,” she corrected, even though I was aware of her meaning. “Is it always like that?”
“With the kids, yeah. Even the men, I guess,” I chuckled. “And depending on the woman…”
“You sign boobs, don’t you?” There wasn’t any sort of anger or disbelief in her tone, simply laughter.
“No comment,” I said around a cocky grin.
Sydney began walking away from me, toward the commons area where the continental, grab-and-go food was always set up. “I’ll have to find some other body part for you to sign,” she threw over her shoulder. This particular brand of sass was slightly unexpected and the semi that managed to deflate was stirring back to life.
Three long strides later and I was directly behind her, pulling her to my front once again. This time there was no stopping her from feeling my arousal against her back and I wasn’t about to redirect my thoughts. She gave the green light and I fully intended to play this out to its fullest.
“Did I tell you a handful?” I whispered into her ear, feeling her shiver against me. I slid my hands up from her hips to her ribs, allowing my fingers to rest right under her breasts and grazing my thumbs over the sides. “I meant mouthful.” I quickly pecked her temple before putting my arm around her shoulders, guiding us toward breakfast.
Caleb
When she didn’t respond, I grinned down at her. “What? Nothing to say?” I had yet to cup the slight globes in my hands, but I wasn’t lying – I couldn’t wait to get my mouth on them.
“Speechless, my friend. Speechless.” She turned into me a little and patted my chest.
I held her hand to my pec, not letting go, and lifted a brow. “Friend?”
“Slow your roll, cupcake. It was a term, that’s all.” She mirrored my grin, so I decided she must be telling the truth. “It’s like when I call my brothers ‘boyfriend’ or a close friend “girlfriend”. It’s just a term. It’s what I do.”
“Yeah, the boyfriend one better be just a term,” I joked. When she pulled on her hand, I reluctantly let it go.
Was I imagining it, or did she purposely rake her nails down my chest before completely taking her hand away? Images of her nails on my back flashed quickly through my mind.
Damn, I had to slow down. I seriously was going zero to sixty now that Sydney said ‘go’.
We got to the line and filled our plates with breakfast foods; eggs, bacon, and a greek yogurt for me, and two slices of thick French toast with sausage links for Syd. Sitting in the same booth we’d sat in the past few mornings, we ate and made small talk, reminiscing on the last few days.
Maybe it was just that she and I had spent a great amount of hours together between meeting and now, not that I was counting, but I was having a hard time thinking about the last few days and then comparing them to the twenty-some odd ones I’d be spending without her. People didn’t fall in love in four days. Those were fictional stories to keep little girls happy and give women high standards. I was under no illusions that I loved Sydney, but at the same time, I was also fully aware that maybe someday I could.
I guess that the days, weeks, damn near a month apart, would prove if this week was just a novelty, and that the feelings were simply because it really was just she and I, or if the feelings were real. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and that shit.
“Caleb.”
I didn’t realize I’d been zoning until I heard my name. My eyes refocused to hers. Both of her light auburn brows were lifted and her pretty amber eyes were amused.
“Sorry, what was that?”
“I’m going to make you stay in your cabin and sleep, mister,” she said, pointing at me with a sausage link hanging off her fork by one tong. When it fell onto the table between us, she swore under her breath.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You shouldn’t be pointing with food. That’s the universe telling you so.”
“You should pay attention when someone’s talking to you. It’s not fair that the universe is punishing me for your issue.”
She shook her head as she looked down to her plate for her last sausage link. The slight push of her cheek told me she was still being funny, so I didn’t take her too seriously.
“What were you saying though?”
She shrugged and popped the full link her mouth. Damn. She held eye contact as she chewed, then shrugged again after she swallowed.
Swallowed.
Damn, my head was in all the wrong places.
“Must’a been a lie. I can’t remember.”
We continued the small talk – and I paid attention – as we both finished our plates. When all was said and done, and we were finally getting off this small city on water, Sydney stopped and turned abruptly at the end of the plank.
“I remember!”
After nearly colliding with her, catching myself with one hand to her hip and the other on her arm, I pushed her farther onto the paved land so my stumble didn’t start a domino effect with the passengers disembarking behind us.
Her feet shuffled back in short strides, causing me to nearly take out her toes so I widened my stance. Finally stopping, I stood probably too closely with my feet on either side of hers.
“What did you remember?”
“…that I wanted to take a picture,” she said, looking around me. I kept my hands on her, her body pulled close, as I looked over my shoulder to where she was looking. I had completely forgotten about the photographers and props stationed on the way off the boat. We walked right past them each time we disembarked, never paying them any attention.
“How about we just get one of those fancy water disposable cameras and just do pictures on our own?” I looked back down at her.
She craned her neck up to look at me. “But these ones are like…memorabilia.” She glanced over my shoulder again and I got the feeling she really wanted the picture with the boat and the lifesaver that had the boat’s name on it with the hula girl handing out leis.
I really hated having my picture taken. Especially considering those memorabilia ones were printed and put out on display in the gallery portion of the ship near the shops. If they weren’t on display for everyone, I don’t think I’d have cared as much, but people looked through everyone’s pictures while finding their own.
I would know.
Sydney and I did it two nights prior.
Not looking for our own; like I said, we hadn’t had the pictures taken. We were just the gawkers going through everyone else’s, seeing who we recognized from pool decks or captain’s dinners.
“I don’t know, Chief…” I glanced over my shoulder again as a family of five squeezed together for a quick photo.
When I felt her small hand in the middle of my chest, I looked down at her again. She had a forced smile on her face and it made me feel like shit. “It’s ok. Really,” she said. “Besides, it’s not like we can jus
t go back and cut in front of those who are getting off now.”
“I’m sorry, Sydney,” I said softly. That shit I was feeling was slowly morphing into full-fledged feeling like a dick. “I’ll make it up to you, promise. You’ll have so many pictures, you won’t even notice the lack of that kind.”
“Okay,” she said, her grin starting to lighten again.
Her hands patted my sides twice just under my rib cage, and before I could step back and hide the reaction, she squeezed playfully which then caused me dip to the side and shiver. “Shit,” I mumbled involuntarily.
I stepped out of her hold but it didn’t stop the full grin from blossoming on her face. “Are you ticklish?” Her hands quickly darted out for my sides again and I tried to take a step back, but one of her hands connected. She playfully pinched and squeezed again.
“Sydney.” I couldn’t help the short laugh that came out of my lips as I took her wrist in my hand, pushing her hand away from point of contact.
“What, Caleb?” Her smile was fully evident in her voice as she twisted and reached with her other hand, trying to make contact.
Unfortunately for me, she was too quick and again, she made contact. Just like that, I felt my dick swell to the point of uncomfortable. Tickling wasn’t always part of foreplay, but women had done it enough for me to know my reaction to it. “Fuck, Sydney,” I ground out, stepping behind her. Her wrist was still in my hand, causing me to cross my arms around her, caging her in front of me.
I could sense more than see her shoulders and mood drop. “Sorry.”
Well, that wouldn’t do. I wished she were just a little taller so I could bury my head in her shoulder, all while nibbling on her neck. Instead, I widened my stance and pressed my forehead into the crown of her head. “God, don’t be sorry.” I pulled her back into me, causing her to press against my growing cock for the second time that morning. “I just need a minute.”
The little minx that was this pixie started wiggling in front of me. While I’m sure my dick would have much preferred the cushion and contact from her ass if she were taller, her back pressing and dragging along my rigid length certainly wasn’t something to sneeze at.
“Shit, Syd,” I groaned. This was fucking torture. I could lie and say that this realization was because I hadn’t gotten laid since being in San Diego. Fuck, how long ago? I should have been getting laid after we won the Cup, but that was post-meeting Sydney and for whatever reason, reasons I wasn’t going to look too far into at the moment, I didn’t.
But this was no doubt all Sydney’s doing.
She managed to unsnag her wrist and turned in my arms. There was that sassy grin on her face again.
“Are you like a closet submissive or something?” Her hands, safely, made their way to my hips. “You get off on being tickled?”
“No,” I scoffed. I wasn’t into that scene. I had teammates that were so I heard the stories, but no, not for me. Whips and that shit could stay away from my bed. Handcuffs I could work with. And if I were being completely honest, wax and ice play kind of sounded fun, but that would be the extent of any experimenting I did.
“Are you sure?” Her face was turned up toward mine and I was so focused on her smirking lips that I didn’t notice one of her wandering hands leave the safety of my hip and make contact with my dick. My hips jerked in response. “Fuck, Sydney.” The grittiness of my voice was almost foreign. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this turned on and ready to blow by a simple touch.
Again, I reached for her wrist. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, Syd baby.”
I looked down between our bodies and could see the evident rigid length of my dick pressing against my board shorts, with her tiny hand curved around the girth. Fuck. I was going to come like a fucking pre-teen boy with his first freaking lingerie catalogue.
With a quick, but still lingering, squeeze, Sydney removed her hand but not without grazing the head of my cock with her thumb. This brazen redheaded beauty was a far cry from the woman, sitting on her hands at the coffee shop, she’d been a few months ago, but then again, maybe she wasn’t.
Sydney
I’m not really sure what came over me. I feel kind of like a hussy. Oh my God, I cupped his junk! And he freaking liked it!
C’mon, Syd, of course he liked it.
But then again, so did I.
In my limited experience with penises, though, I’d have to say his was likely pretty impressive. My hands were on the smaller side so when erect, penises were generally fairly large in my hand but damn. He felt bigger than any I’d encountered before.
And just like that, I could feel my cheeks getting warm. I need to change my train of thought.
“So, that camera,” I said, stepping away from Caleb. On a quick glance down, I saw he still was tented but we couldn’t just stand here. With as much as he’s gotten it up today already… I grinned to myself. I’m not sure if I simply didn’t notice it in the past few days, but knowing you made a guy hard was actually pretty thrilling.
As much as it would hurt to say goodbye on Monday, I wasn’t going to regret a single moment.
I found that I could be my loud self with Caleb. I could be brazen and bold, and he liked it.
And because he liked it, I liked this side of me.
Caleb took my hand in his and we walked toward the shops lining the port. “I’m sure there’s one in one of these stores.”
We were lucky and were able to purchase a waterproof disposable camera at the first store we went into. I also got Caleb to loosen up a bit and he modeled a stellar pair of bug-eye sunglasses for me. With a hibiscus print sarong around his hips.
The laughing didn’t stop when we left that store, though. When we made it to our first excursion, we chose to ride an ATV together. Caleb drove and I hung on from the back.
Big mistake.
He took a muddy turn too quickly and dumped me off the back. The look on his face when he turned over his shoulder…
I’m sure he was expecting me to be spitting mad or something other than laughing my ass off, but I couldn’t help it. It was funny. Who falls off an ATV into a pool of mud?
The tour guide was a bit disgruntled, but it wasn’t like we broke the ATV so he could just shove it. When I climbed back on behind Caleb, I was sure to rub as much mud on his back as possible. We were certainly a sight.
Thankfully, we chose the ATV excursion that led straight into cliff jumping. At the sight, I stripped my dress off and rinsed it the best I could in the water, laying it out on a rock to dry. Caleb could at least rinse off in the water. He insisted on jumping together the first time so with the camera strap wrapped around his wrist, he took my hand in his for the umpteenth time that day and together we flew over the edge.
My legs bicycled the entire way down and I was laughing so hard I was afraid I’d end up with a mouthful of salt water, but Caleb was on top of it.
“Now, Sydney, close your mouth now!”
And seconds later, we were submerged. I lost his hand in the process but when I came back to surface, laughing yet again mind you, he had the camera ready and snapped my picture.
I swam toward him and reached out. “Can I see that?”
Caleb lifted that brow he loved to lift, and held the camera up. “This?”
“Yeah, that.” I tried to dive forward for it, but missed by a mile.
It didn’t help that Caleb pushed back and floated a bit away from me.
“I want to take your picture!” Again, I reached for the camera.
“How about together?” he compromised, finally sitting still in the water so I could reach him.
“’Kay.” I swam behind him, catching the slightly confused look on his face, before I reached around his shoulders and hoisted myself up his back. “Your arms are longer than mine. You can take it.”
“I can’t say I’m well-versed in the art of selfies, but alright…” I could hear the grin in his voice as he reached out to take the picture single hande
dly. My arms were wrapped around his upper chest, my cheek to the side of his head. His free hand rested on my forearms and before he snapped the picture, he said a quiet countdown from three.
“You think it’ll turn out?” I asked him, sliding down his back and swimming around in front of him.
“Hopefully.”
It had been so long since I’d taken a picture with film; I forgot the anticipation of developing.
We swam back to shore and followed some of the other excursionists back up the side of the cliff to jump yet again. It was a super fun afternoon of jumping and swimming. Caleb eventually gave up the camera so I could take one or two or six pictures of him, but I know my mug was on that roll of film far more than his was. Another person offered to take a picture for us too; she took one of us jumping off and then again on the shore, dripping wet and, you guessed it, laughing.
Hands down, today was turning out to be my favorite of this trip.
It would also likely be one of my favorite memories of the man I couldn’t keep.
Caleb
It had been a fantastic day.
Sydney and I were currently on lounge chairs on a long-since deserted beach, the sun having fully sunk below the water a good ten minutes prior. She hadn’t put up a fight when I pulled her onto my lap when we first got here, and she was still cuddled into me. Her ass was snug to my groin, one of my legs hooked over hers, and my arms rested over her stomach. She was wearing her mud-stained dress, her hair in a humidity-caused frizz tangle over a shoulder, and she had her head back to my shoulder, turned in slightly toward me.
After cliff jumping, Sydney had released her messy bun and said it was so her hair wouldn’t knot too badly as it dried, but I could see the pain in her eyes. It wasn’t until we reached a little shack on the beach that she confessed her hair had given her a headache.
I turned my head so my chin rested to her forehead. “It was a good day.”
I could hardly hear my own soft words over the crashing waves, but Sydney nodded. “It was.”
